This section provides the visitor with the content and background for the subjects in the petroglyphs, such as humans, animals, and plants. It also provides interpretations of complex scenes that incorporate many figures that together convey an event. The scenes mostly depict activities relating to hunting and warfare. In this section, the visitor will learn about the people who created the rock art of Saudi Arabia and their environment.
Subjects & Scenes
Examples:
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Ostrich
The ostrich is the largest living bird, lays the largest egg of any living avian species, and has the largest eyes of any terrestrial vertebrate. Ostriches are in the same order, Struthioniformes, with the other flightless living species, kiwis, rheas, emus, cassowaries, and the extinct moa and elephant bird.
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Sheep
Making up 25% of the world’s domestic sheep populations, the fat-tailed type is found in Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, North India, Western China and Central Asia. It dates back at least to 3000 BC, based on depictions found on stone vessels from Uruk, and the later Ur (2400 BCE), in Mesopotamia. These sheep were developed to increase the fat stored in their tails, which has [...]
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Camel
The Dromedary camel can be easily identified because of the single hump on its back. It is also the largest of all camels, having longer limbs than the Bactrian, or two-humped, camel, C. bactrianus. The Dromedary is extremely well adapted to hot, arid conditions, and is capable of surviving up to 21 days without water. Dromedaries vary in color from nearly white, to tan, to [...]
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Ibex
The ibex is similar to the wild goat in terms of the shape of its head, body, and tail. Like the goat, it has scimitar horns that curve backward in a large semi-circle, but with the addition of a series of regularly spaced transverse ridges along the outer edge of the curve. Ancient artists depicted these ridges distinctly on the more realistic panels, however, where a caprine [...]